FALL SPORTS
C5
FRIDAY, AUGUST 28, 2020
THE NORTH PLATTE TELEGRAPH
Building on a perfect regular season Sutherland hopes success can transfer into a playoff push
er, we feel like we have some kids that can step up and take some signif- icant roles. We look at those two classes togeth- er to make things work.” The junior and senior classes are also where the team’s returning starters come from. Sutherland’s three se- niors are tight end and cornerback Jaron Cooper, and utility players Carter Snyder and Ty Monie. Geier praised Snyder and Monie for their abili- ties to play all over the field wherever the team needs them. “Any time for us when you talk about key play- ers, we look to our seniors,” Geier said. “We only have three this year. When we went ahead and played Arcadia/Loup City last year as our last game of the year, all three started both ways. Fortunately for us, we’re looking for quality over quantity with them.” Other returning start- ers, all of whom are juniors, include Tanner Drueke, Gavin White, Austin Lee, Maverick Naughtin. Drueke had the most rushing attempts last season with 101, caught eight passes in the field and led the team in to- tal tackles with 52. White tied for third in tackles with 34.5 and Lee fin- ished the season with 30 tackles. Naughtin played on the offensive and de- fensive lines. That leaves a few start- ing roles up for grabs and Geier said his team has so far responded posi- tively to getting back out on the field. He said the
By JAKE DREILINGER jake.dreilinger@ nptelegraph.com The Sutherland high school football team stood out last season with a perfect regular season record before fall- ing in the playoffs to Arcadia/Loup City. While it has lost a few key seniors on both sides of the ball, the Sailors return a major- ity of its starters. They boast a lot of players who manage offense and defense, and about five or six of the athletes on the roster started last year. None of those starters include the quarterback, however. That doesn’t mean the next man up, Andrew Dowse, doesn’t have any playing expe- rience. Dowse, a junior, got to play as a fresh- man when then-starter Tayton Schuster tore his ACL. “He does have a little bit of starting experience, which we will always take,” said Sutherland coach Brendan Geier. “We’re looking for him to take the next step this year.” That first step comes when Sutherland opens the season Friday at home against Cambridge. Dowse is a part of a 14-man junior class that Geier said the team is looking at to lead the way. Mix that with a three-man senior class and that’s 17 players — over half the team’s roster. “A lot of those kids have played small roles throughout the years,” he said. “As they get old-
Telegraph file photo Ty Monie is one of just three seniors on a talented Sutherland team that went undefeated in the regular sea- son in 2019.
not only a football season this year, but a success- ful one at that. “We talk a lot about getting better each day,” Geier said. “I feel like we’ve taken that attitude into this week and hope- fully we continue that attitude each day as we progress into the sea- son.”
players have taken up the challenge of being “COVID safe” and wear- ing masks to do whatever it takes to have a football season. Now that the first game is upon them, Sutherland is ramping up its philos- ophy of improving every day and doing what it can to make sure they have
Sutherland Class D1
Aug. 28. ...................................................Cambridge Sept. 4. ......................................... at Garden County Sept. 11.........................................................Hi-Linen Sept. 18. .................................................... at Kimball Sept. 25..................................................Hemingford Oct. 2.................................................... at Elm Creek Oct. 9............................................ at Perkins County Oct. 15............................................................Bayard
Maxwell hopes to improve on 3-6 season, with starters returning
who are freshmen. Jones said they will be get- ting involved right away in various roles, even if they don’t get to start right away. The biggest impact a freshman can make at Maxwell is probably through special teams, which is where they can impress and hopefully become a role player lat- er on. “Your younger kids get thrown right in there, ready or not,” he said. “They’re the scout team, getting us ready for the other team’s plays, but they also got to learn our offense and defense and what we like to do. We ask a lot of our younger kids. So far they’ve been doing a fantastic job.” That same philosophy also helped develop some of the current starters now. Jones said junior Jack Meyer was one of those players who con- tributed all over the field his first two seasons, and will now take snaps at quarterback. As a sophomore, Meyer had 47 carries for 272 yards and two touch- downs, caught four passes and threw for 107 yards on nine comple- tions in spot duty. “He’s a good athlete, wants to win and very passionate about win- ning,” Jones said. “Any time that’s the kind of kid that’s leading your huddle, that’s a good start. We can do a lot of things with Jack under center.” Meyer will have plen- ty of help on the offensive line, as Maxwell returns Kayden Stubbs and Luke Howitt as guards and Troy Breinig at center. “Our guys up front that are returning have real- ly played a lot of football since their freshman year,” Jones said. “A lot of experience up front, and that’s nice to see.”
By JAKE DREILINGER jake.dreilinger@ nptelegraph.com
Maxwell coach Ryan Jones started giving a cliche “coach answer” when asked if there was one game his players might be looking forward to the most this year. He started explain- ing how they take it each game at a time before he stopped and started changing his answer a bit. “You try not to look ahead, but it’s very nat- ural for us to look where Brady’s at on the sched- ule,” Jones said. “Brady’s our rival eight miles down the road. Brady beat us last year, and that doesn’t happen very often. We’re looking for- ward to that Brady game, which is our second game of the year.” That game was in Maxwell last year, and the Brady Eagles came out on top with a 42-34 win. Even though he wants his team to fo- cus on its season opener against Perkins County, Jones knows his team has its eyes set to next week. Maxwell has the ma- jority of its starters returning: Six on offense and five on defense. Four of them start on both sides of the ball. Having that many returners in eight-man football brings plenty of experience to a team looking to improve off last season. The Wildcats went 3-6 last year, including a 86- 25 loss to Elwood in the playoffs. Its wins came against Morrill, Leyton/ Banner County and Mullen. Maxwell will have a fresh slate of op- ponents this year, except for Brady and Mullen, which means it will have to spend more time pre- paring for unfamiliar matchups. Maxwell boasts a ros- ter of 29 players, 11 of
Telegraph file photo J ack Meyer (5), who saw time all over the field as a sophomore, now takes the reins at quarterback for Maxwell.
Maxwell Class D1
Aug. 27. ........................................... Perkins County Sept. 4. ........................................................at Brady Sept. 11.................................................. Hemingford Sept. 18. ....................................................at Hi-Line Sept. 25.............................. Dundy County-Stratton Oct. 2.................................................. at Cambridge Oct. 9...........................................Hitchcock County Oct. 15........................................................at Mullen
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